Multiplying the brand growth through licensing

Betting on the potential of brand licensing industry, the home appliances manufacturer Usha Shriram has chalked out its expansion strategy. In a candid conversation with License India, Anupam Bharat, the Managing Director of the brand divulges details on what made the brand consider licensing as an effective retail strategy and how it plans to expand its retail presence. Usha Shriram itself is into manufacturing of many of the categories.

What made you opt brand licensing into your business model?

For any organization to grow, licensing is possibly the easiest way because you have basic competency in the particular field that you are present in.If you have a good brand in the country and probably you want to become 30 times bigger in the coming years however you have not been able to leverage it only because of the fact that you have to confine with the brand in the small space that you are operating. Through licensing you can get phenomenal opportunities to leverage that brand into areas which you did not have the expertise for. However, you feel that by putting that brand in related product or in similar products, the total ticket size of the brand will increase tremendously by not just two folds but almost 20 times.

What all categories are you looking at for extending the licensing rights?

We are present in home appliances, air purifiers, cookware etc. through licensing, we are looking to mark debut in segments like kitchenware and furniture. We have already closed the deal for mobile phone covers and many other deals are in pipeline.

How has the consumer demand changed in home segment?

The total mechanics of buying with Gen Y has shifted from a highly considered decision to impulse buying. On the impulse, the consumers buy on basis of their liking. This is mainly because of the increase in disposable income and people don’t mind going wrong in probably one out of their 10 purchases. And the challenge that the challenge that brand owners face is how to create that desire in Gen Y to purchase the products. A consumer in Tier I cities has very different sensibilities than someone in Tier II or probably Tier III cities. The sales are going to be very different in various regions.

What is your take on the parallel market and how do you aim to curb the counterfeits?

The positive side is there is an overall change both from demand side and the supply side of business. At the same time, it is incumbent on the manufacturers to make the product reasonably priced. Once, the price is reasonable, it becomes easy for consumers to fall in line and procure genuine merchandise.